I recently participated in my first flying lesson. It took place at a local airfield on a glorious autumnal Saturday. The lesson had previously been cancelled, due to high winds, so I was grateful for having so much luck with the weather.
After some ground instruction as to the controls and general operation, I followed James, my instructor for the morning, to one of the hangars near the Control Tower.
Inside was a wonderful craft – the Ikarus C-42 light aircraft. James removed one of the side panels, revealing the simplicity of the structure inside. The plane was a long, aluminium tube, around which the composite shell sat. It was beautifully straightforward. The cabin was neat and compact, with just enough room for the two seats; one for the pilot and one for the passenger and was fronted with surprisingly few dials on the instrument panel. It was a perfect exercise in functionality and simplicity; designed to do a job and to do it well – over and over again. Unsurprisingly, my lean mind came to the fore. I began to admire the design, with its tightness and focused accuracy. I had been drawn into the thinking that a plane must be an incredibly complex thing, but the Ikarus C-42 was stunning. There was no superfluousity, no contamination of the vision. It was clean, clear, simple, and I loved it!
With absolutely no effort, James pushed the plane out of its hangar and onto the concrete. The time was rapidly approaching when we would take to the skies. I climbed in and was instructed in how to strap myself into the seat. James did the same and soon the engines were started. With headsets donned, we radioed the tower for a take off slot, and trundled out onto the runway.
It was as we picked up speed that the lightness of the craft came into its own. Take-off was achieved with the minimum of fuss and the minimum of runway. Once again, I found myself marvelling at the efficiency of this brilliant flying machine. We began to climb and, the landscape with which I was so familiar, receded into a patchwork of miniature mappings. I was beginning to think that I was hooked.
Soon, we were heading out across the sea and it was my turn to take the controls. This now, is the thrust and the theme of this post. Whilst the plane was equipped with a tail rudder, all of the ascent, descent and direction is controlled through the central joystick. Moving the stick left or right controls the ailerons on the wing, banking and turning the plane in the desired direction. Pushing the stick forward or pulling it back controlled the elevators on the tailplane. Forward pushes to the nose down, causing a descent, backwards pushes the nose up causing ascent. Simple enough I thought and set about controlling the plane, pulling this way and that, much like a television or film pilot.
But this effort was not required.
I found, much to my delight, that the joystick only needed the merest of touches to change or correct the direction. Just the slightest nudge. In fact, the plane was happiest when you did nothing. As the car drivers amongst us will attest, this came as something of a revelation. I pondered on this as the sunlight glinted off the cabin. What was the difference?
We had come above the obstacles of the road.
Whilst we were flying back to our starting location, we were flying for pleasure, not the goal of the destination. We had risen above the obstacles of daily life on the ground and were free to enjoy the journey in the moment.
I am reminded of one of the presuppositions of NLP. People aren’t broken. By extension, people and organisations (of people) aren’t broken. All they need is a little nudge on the joystick and they will come back on track.
The natural state of that little Ikarus C-42 was to fly. Our natural state is wellness, clarity and connection, through the principles of Mind, Consciousness and Thought. When we have these things, we too can fly, like the little plane that I had so come to admire.
I cannot wait to go again and reconnect.
(If you would like to learn more about the Three Principles, head to the shop where you will find links to books by Jamie Smart, Sydney Banks and Michael Neill. I thoroughly recommend them all.)